"Thiruvilayadal"
Released by Ayngaran

1.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio
5.1 Dolby Digital (mono in all channels)
Video previews for Aalavandhan, 12B, and Chocklet

Video
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The print used is frequently problematic, probably around the beginnings and ends of each reel. The opening credits and part of the film after that is plagued with yellow spots, and storms of red spots often appear throughout the film. It looks like a bacterial colony is growing at times! There are even some torn or stained frames. But most of the film print is free of major blemishes. Some grain is evident.

Unfortunately, there is a layer of DVNR on the image, which pretty much obliterates smaller details. There was one shot where the camera pans, then stops. Only when the camera stops did I see that there was a fishnet hanging in the shot; the DVNR made it disappear! I saw some pixellation, particularly when the camera moves. The colors are very good, which is important, since color is often used to good effect.

Audio
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The audio is a somewhat muffled, though adequately clear, mono mixed to 5.1. Ayngaran always does this with mono films and it is pretty annoying. One, it wastes bitrate, and two, this is not how it should sound. Occasional pops and ticks can be heard, but there is little hiss.

I forgot to add that it has English subtitles.

who is in this film, and is it a decent flick?

Ayngaran have to work on thier older titles as they are not as good as thier newer ones. The wear and tear problem is constant on all of thier older DVD's like Sendoorapoove & Anbe Vaa

This is a famous Tamil mythological movie, starring Shivaji Ganeshan. It consists of a series of stories showing the glory of lord Shiva, and has some really wonderful oldie music.

Dragun, thanks for the review. I saw this at themahal.com, and was planning on buying it. BTW, have you seen, EVP's Bharathiraja classic "Mann Vasanai"?

Chaver.

chaver wrote:


I have not seen any of EVP's Tamil DVDs, but considering the quality of their Hindi DVDs, it should be pretty good.

Sunny, the cast of "Thiruvilayadal" includes famous Tamil actors such as:

Sivaji Ganesan
Savithri
Muthuraman
Devika
Nagesh
Balaiya
T.R. Mahalingam (also a singer)
Karunanidhi
K.B. Sundarambal (she is also a singer)

Screenplay, Dialogue, and Direction by A.P. Nagarajan, whose films include "Thillana Mohanambal," "Saraswathi Sabadham," and "Kandhan Karunai." Somehow, he managed to fit Nagesh into this film, but it works.

Music by K.V. Mahadevan

Lyrics by Kannadasan and Panju Arunachalam

Thanks for the info, guess I'll order this film on DVD so I can have a look. I found Thillana Mohanambal an enjoyable fare, lets hope this film is the same